The Way We Were
by gemxk2
Summary: Aristalis was to Marcus what Selene was to Viktor. Now that Marcus is a Hybrid, can Aristalis convince herself that they are still the same people they were 200 years ago? Starts when Marcus kills Kraven in Underworld Evolution.


Sadly, I do not own anything to do with Underworld, or Underworld – Evolution. For any references to Sonja and her mother Lady Ilona, these belong to Greg Cox, for his book, Blood Enemy, a prequel to Underworld. For full details, buy the book! Its all about Sonja and Lucian and their marriage.

Chapter One -- Interlude

(A short time ago…)

High above the city of Budapest, Aristalis, Vampire Death Dealer, watched the city below her passing by. Unlike her fellow Death Dealer, Selene, Aristalis stood against a stone gargoyle, her black leather coat flying in the wind, giving the impression that, from below, the gargoyle had wings. Although clad in the same leather as her comrade, the two vampire warriors looked completely different. Rain plastered Selene's short black hair to her head, as she glared at the Lycan scum on the ground below hustling through the crowd, intent it seemed on getting out of the foul weather. Aristalis own chestnut coloured curls fell in waves down her back, secured with only a small piece of elastic to keep her hair out of her eyes during the hunt.

Looking up, Aristalis gave a short nod to the male on the roof of the next building. Rigel smirked back at her, and beyond him, Nathaniel nodded back. Aristalis flicked her eyes back to Selene who was standing, ready to make her first jump of the night. The older Vampire watched as Selene effortlessly walked off the edge of the building, her leather trench floating behind her and landing perfectly on the ground, walking away seamlessly, as if she had not just jumped 150 ft. Looking quickly back up, she was in time to see Rigel and Nathaniel do the exact same thing. She smirked.

Tonight was going to be a wonderful night for a hunt…

(Present Date)

"I want her found, do you understand me? Alive if possible, but I'll settle for dead."

"It's not that simple, Malachi. Selene is strong, far too clever to be brought in by the Death Dealers. She will be expecting every move I make. It would be better if you yourself hunted Selene and the Hybrid."

"Aristalis, you will –"

"No, Malachi. I won't."

"Aria, please. For me."

Aristalis hated it when he called her Aria. It was not her name. She remembered when Viktor's daughter Sonja had been alive, and she had called her Aria. Sonja had been her closest friend, welcoming her into the coven after she had just been ignited as an Immortal. The Lady Ilona, Sonja's mother had warmed to the innocence of her and had treated her like a second daughter. When Ilona had been killed just hours before the Lord Viktor's awakening, the Elder had raged a blood bath of terror on the village of Strasba, where Aristalis had hailed from as a mortal.

Aristalis' quick wit and sharp intuition had caught the Lord Marcus on a good day and he had swiftly raised her through the ranks of the coven, eventually giving her a place working with Kahn, the leader of the Death Dealers.

It had been Aristalis who had chained Sonja to the pole on which she had met her death. It had pained her to do it, but how could she have ignored the wishes of the Elder Viktor, now her lord Marcus slumbered?

How at that moment she had wished for Lord Marcus. How at this moment, she did the same thing.

Lord Marcus had been kind to her. As a mortal, his son Nicolae had attacked her. As Aristalis had lain dying, Lord Marcus had been her salvation by granting her eternal life. She was to Marcus what Selene was to Viktor. On the other hand, what she once had been. Selene was now hunted by the Vampires. Not only had she killed Viktor, she was with that Lycan renegade Michael. _The Hybrid_. It turned Aristalis' stomach to think of Sonja with that Lycan Michael. Now that there was a hybrid of both species…

Viktor's words haunted her mind.

_Abomination. sacrilege. Betrayal of the coven. Disgrace. Traitor. Whore. Heresy. _

Aristalis was brought back to the present as Malachi slammed a drawer on his desk closed. She surveyed the room around her. Malachi was now in charge, albeit temporarily, now that Kraven was awakening Marcus. In just a few short hours her sire would be awakened after two hundred years!

She concealed her inward excitement and glared balefully at Malachi in front of her. Sitting behind Kravens' desk he looked the part. Like he belonged there. Aristalis swallowed the sharp retort that threatened to explode from her lips and bit deep down on to her own lips until she tasted blood. She hated this Vampire with a passion.

Malachi smiled at her. "Now now Aria, play nicely. You will hunt down Selene. You will bring her to be judged before Marcus. When the Elder is full restored of course"

"I will n-"

"You will do as you are ordered, Aristalis. Or Marcus will hear of your treachery." Malachi spat the words at her with a force equal to a physical blow.

"Treachery? What treachery is this!" She demanded hotly, feverently denying it. Aristalis longed to reach for her knife that was strapped to the inside of her thigh and kill him right there, but she couldn't. Not yet anyway.

"Oh calm yourself, child." She bristled at his patronising words. "I know you are innocent, but does Marcus? After all a sleeping lord for two centuries, whose to say what you have done…or whom. How is the Lord Marcus to know if you have been faithful to him for all this time or not?"

Aristalis inhaled sharply. Her fingers itched to get to her knife. Not even just her knife, a paperweight, a pen, anything with which she could attack him.

"I have been faithful to my Lord for two hundred years. What you speak of is a betrayal. Of the Lord Marcus' trust, and a betrayal of the coven! To speak of such a thing is heresy."

"Yes," He gave a short sharp laugh and it caused Aristalis' skin to crawl. "Not that it will matter now. Now that Kraven is going to kill Marcus while he still slumbers that is…"

As soon as the words registered in Aristalis' mind, she swung around, pulled her hunting knife from the holster on her inner thigh, and grabbed Malachi's hand before he could move. Pulling his arm towards her, she half dragged him over the desk. Without any warning, she pinned his hand to the solid Oak of the desk and an instant later Malachi couldn't move for the searing pain in his hand.

Aristalis had stabbed him straight through the hand, pinning him to the desk with her knife.

She reached behind her for her twin handguns, and shot off towards the crypt in which Marcus slumbered still. She could only pray that she was in time.

Meanwhile, in the crypt, Kraven was begging for his life. "I can serve you my Lord…"

Marcus sneered at him. He said something back to Kraven before exploding his head with his bare hands. He had tasted Kraven's blood and seen some disturbing things. One in particular, was of Aristalis being cornered by a Lycan. Kraven had run away at that point so Marcus was left to assume the worst.

Now a hybrid, Marcus stood back into the centre of the crypt and extended his wings and closed his eyes as the bones cracked back into place. He opened his eyes, which shone a bright blue and glistened eerily in the dark. How he had hated this manor. It was horrible. He stood still as Kraven's blood memories mixed with his own. His own recollections were steadily coming back to him and he clenched his eyes closed as images of Aristalis floated through his mind. Enough.

His eyes shot open as he heard running footsteps coming towards him. He wasn't strong enough yet to take on a fully trained Death Dealer. Using his newly found wings, he bent his knees slightly and with a deep breath he smashed through the ceiling of the crypt and flew away into the night. He would return later when his strength was filled.

Aristalis burst into the crypt at full speed with both of her handguns aimed and ready. She had heard something crash through the ceiling only moments ago and been in time to see the dust clearing. The first thing that she saw was Marcus' empty coffin and the slaughtered Kraven. The bloody remnants of his face made her feel sick and she moved away, swallowing the bile that rose in her throat. Moving over to another dead Death Dealer, she checked every single one of them for any signs of life. None. Finally, she checked Marcus' coffin. It was stained with blood.

Aristalis moved forwards and wiped a finger over the blood and placed it under her nose. Instantly, she hissed and wiped the blood onto her black leathers. Lycan Blood! Tinged with a hint of Marcus own. Confused, she set her guns to armed, and pointed them in all directions of the crypt. Something wasn't right in here, and Aristalis wasn't going to wait around for whatever killed the Vampires in this room. She would go back to Malachi and have some serious words with that man.


End file.
